But as the software industry warps to fit the shape of the Internet and the region rises in economic prominence, it's likely many will be asking themselves a once-moot question: Does Microsoft need Asia more than Asia needs Microsoft?

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Microsoft Research Asia, known as MSRA, was established in Beijing 10 years ago.

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Microsoft's Asia president, Sanjay Mirchandani, is fanatical about being available to all his employees the old fashioned way -- through face-to-face meetings.

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But Wu says Microsoft has no designs on dominating Asia's broadband infrastructure as new networks are developed.

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"Microsoft knows the desktop is changing more in Asia than anywhere else in the world, " says Tom Kendra, vice president of IBM's Asia Pacific software division.

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Jeremy Cooper, Asia Pacific regional marketing director for SalesForce, believes Microsoft is taking a risk.

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The biggest is Asia Global Crossing, a venture backed by Global Crossing, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs, as well as by Japan's Softbank.

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To be sure, Microsoft is spending money to develop high-speed Net services and content in Asia (it is teamed with Hong Kong's major phone company on a broadband portal).

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Volumes were buoyed by the sales of Nokia's low-end dual-SIM models in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, but were a little soft overall, as initial shipments of Microsoft Lumia phones could not offset declining Symbian sales.

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The deal involved Asia Global Crossing, a 1999 joint venture by Global Crossing, Softbank and Microsoft to build an Asian network.

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Microsoft has said that tighter restrictions on migrant labour might make it shift some of its operations to Asia.

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Other fears are that the Asian economic recovery will prove less muscular than hoped (the port of Seattle is a major export route to Asia) and that the Department of Justice may carry out its veiled threats to break up Microsoft.

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Michael Rawding, Microsoft's greater China regional director, maintains that critical views of his company aren't widely held in Asia.

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But a flood of new Microsoft licensees into the Windows Phone market would put Nokia in basically the same position, trying to compete with the Asia handset giants in a commodtizing market.

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